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On Thursday, January 30, several media outlets drew an association between Elon Musk and Wednesday's plane crash. Their reports claimed that Musk pushed the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) chief to resign before the incident.
Per NY Post's January 30 report, Michael Whitaker - the FAA Chief - resigned from his position 10 days before the deadline plane crash over Washington, DC. Whitaker announced his decision to step down after President Trump was sworn in, leaving the FAA without a leader "in a time of virtually unprecedented disaster for the agency," the article mentioned.
It added that Musk - a close Trump advisor and head of DOGE - had called for "Whitaker's ouster" after the chief had proposed over $600,000 in fines for his aerospace firm, SpaceX.
No survivors are expected from the Wednesday plane crash
Social media outrage followed the NY Post's recent article about a crash on Wednesday involving a plane with 64 passengers and an army helicopter with three people onboard. The collision happened near Washington DC's Ronald Reagan Airport, causing both aircraft to crash into the Potomac River, according to BBC.
While the number of victims hasn't been determined at the moment, the officials do not believe there are any survivors from the plane crash, per the news outlet. So far, 27 bodies have been recovered from the plane, and one from the helicopter.
According to the US Figure Skating, figure skaters from both Russia and the US were among the 64 passengers. The organization said that the group on board comprised athletes, coaches, and family members who were returning from a development camp in Kansas.
More than 300 responders were deployed at the site of the plane crash to search for survivors, with wind and pieces of ice in the water creating obstacles for them.
The Army helicopter was reportedly aware of the passenger plane moments before the crash
Per BBC, the crash took place between an American Airlines flight and a US Army helicopter. The commercial plane - a Bombardier CRJ700 - was operating as flight 5342, traveling from Witchita, Kansas, to Washington, DC. Meanwhile, the army helicopter was a Sikorsky H-60 Black Hawk, belonging to B Company, 12th Aviation Battalion.
According to CBS News' analysis, the helicopter, which took off from Fort Belvoir in Virginia, reportedly appeared to have been flying above the permitted altitude.
The air traffic control conversations that were published online later suggest that a controller had attempted to warn the army helicopter about the Airlines plane in the seconds before the crash.
The helicopter pilot reportedly responded to the warning, confirming that they were aware of the plane, but their response was followed by the crash moments later.
After the impact of the crash, the passenger plane was broken into multiple pieces, all of which sank deep into the Potomac river. The helicopter also turned upside down in the water.
In the wake of the crash, its cause still remains unclear. However, the data recorder and the cockpit voice recorders from both vehicles (known as black boxes) have been retrieved. Officials will now examine them to find any possible contributing factors, including human error.
Per BBC, it is the National Transportation Safety Board's (NTSB) intention to release a preliminary report of the plane crash within 30 days.
Pete Hegseth, the US Defence Secretary, addressed the crash on Fox News' morning show, saying:
"Someone was at the wrong altitude. The investigation will help us understand that. Was the Black Hawk too high? Was it on course? Right now, we don't quite know."
On Thursday, January 31, President Trump held a press conference to address the plane crash, saying that the country was "in mourning". Trump also accused his political rivals of hiring "mediocre" staff for air traffic control jobs.
